The Athena Centre, established by former Minister of Aviation Osita Chidoka, recently conducted a review of the just-concluded governorship election in Edo State.
In the election, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Monday Okpebholo, was declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), defeating his closest rival, Asue Ighodalo of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
In its review, the Athena Centre criticized INEC, claiming that the election was compromised.
Chidoka, who presented the Centre’s findings, stated that there was substantial evidence pointing to systemic rigging during the election.
“The evidence of systemic rigging observed in this election is so substantial that we cannot call the results.
“The evidence of systemic rigging is so substantial that we think that this election should not be allowed to stand. If this stands, then there is no election in 2027.”
He expressed astonishment that an institution like INEC would jeopardize its reputation for the sake of an election.
The former minister accused the election of lacking transparency, with notable discrepancies in voter accreditation.
He also raised concerns about instances of overvoting, manipulation at ward collation centers, and the failure to transmit the BVAS accreditation data to INEC’s Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
Additionally, he pointed out that results from 153 polling units were unaccounted for, suggesting that no results were recorded from those units.
In conclusion, he argued that the Edo State election could not be considered credible, as it did not meet basic integrity standards due to significant interference in the process by the electoral body.
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